The present invention relates to an automatic device and a process for opening and closing vials. More particularly, the present invention relates to an automatic device and a process for opening and closing a plurality of vials in succession.
Vials of the type for which the present invention is particularly adapted are vials having a cap attached to the body portion by a hinge. The vials are generally comprised of plastic, and may range in size from 1.5 to 5 inches tall and 0.5 to 4 inches in diameter. Each vial includes a cap that seals tightly to the top of the vial and is integrally connected to the vial with a hinge that may be in the form of a folded plastic flange. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of such a plastic vial with the cap in an open position. A vial of this type is the subject of a copending U.S. patent application, Ser. No, 928,475, filed on Nov. 10, 1986.
Although the present invention is particularly adapted to the vials described in the preceding paragraph, it can also be used with other types. Such vials are frequently used to hold small samples of a liquid for testing purposes. While some testing of samples is done by manually opening and closing the vial, in order to efficiently test a large quantity of samples, an automated device for opening and closing the vials is desirable. Various types of container opening and closing devices are well known in the prior art. There are several known devices intended for manipulating caps on bottles or similar containers.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,920, issued on Oct. 28, 1975 to Dilanni, discloses a bottle opening machine that removes caps from bottles and then inserts a tube into each bottle for extracting the contents therefrom.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,271, issued on June 21, 1977 to Kefauver et al. discloses an apparatus that is designed to screw on or unscrew caps from bottles or vials held in a standard rack or holder.
Other devices are known for manipulating box-type containers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,590,745, issued on May 27, 1986 to Randles, discloses an apparatus that is designed for closing open flaps on a carton. The cartons are moved along a set of rails that progressively closes the flaps as each carton is moved past the rails by a conveyor system.
None of the prior art devices is adapted for sequentially opening and closing vial containers while allowing access to the vial during the period between the opening and closing of the vial.
Furthermore, none of the prior art devices provides for totally automated opening and closing of a plurality of vials having hinged caps.
In addition none of the prior art container manipulating devices are well adapted for the sealing and unsealing of caps that seal tightly onto their respective vials.
Accordingly, the prior art devices are generally not satisfactory for use with the plastic vials described above, because they do not provide a convenient and automated system for sequentially testing or otherwise manipulating the contents of a plurality of vials.